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Lawyer Sues Israel, Italy and Pontius Pilate for Jesus' Crucifixion

A Kenyan lawyer has filed a petition to overturn the 2,000-year-old trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, arguing that the trial was unlawful and demanding that Israel and Italy be held responsible.

Dola Indidis, a lawyer, Roman Catholic, and former spokesperson for the Kenyan Judiciary, filed the lawsuit regarding Jesus' death with the International Court of Justice, the primary judicial branch of the United Nations based at The Hague in the Netherlands. Indidis filed the lawsuit against Pontius Pilate, several Jewish elders, King Herod, Tiberius (Emperor of Rome 42 BC-37AD), the Republic of Italy and the State of Israel.

"I filed the case because it's my duty to uphold the dignity of Jesus and I have gone to the ICJ to seek justice for the man from Nazareth," Indidis told the Nairobian in a recent interview. "His selective and malicious prosecution violated his human rights through judicial misconduct, abuse of office bias and prejudice."

Indidis claims the goal of his lawsuit is to have "a declaratory judgment declaration that the trial judgment and sentence entered were badly done and therefore null and void," according to The Blaze. Additionally, the lawyer argues that Jesus' sentence was incompatible with Galilean law at the time, as the sentence for blasphemy was being stoned to death, not crucifixion.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Indidis named the Republic of Italy and the State of Israel in the lawsuit because when these two states gained independence, they incorporated the laws of the Roman Empire into their new government systems. These are the same laws that were in effect when Jesus was crucified.

Indidis initially submitted his case to the Kenyan High Court in Nairobi in 2007, but it was rejected for not having enough legal standing, especially since parties Indidis wishes to prosecute have been dead for 2,000 years.

The lawyer told Sylvia Chebet of Kenyan Citizen TV that his proof regarding Jesus' unlawful death comes from the bible, saying "evidence today is on record in the bible, and you cannot discredit the bible," adding that he knows "as a matter of fact and a matter of truth that we have a good case with a high probability of success."

Although Standard Media reports that the International Court of Justice has created a preliminary panel to consider Indidis' case, an ICJ spokesperson told Legal Cheek that it would not be considering the case, as it is out of its jurisdiction. The ICJ usually focuses on territory disputes between countries belonging to the United Nations.

"The ICJ has no jurisdiction for such a case. The ICJ settles disputes between states. It is not even theoretically possible for us to consider this case," the ICJ spokesperson told Legal Cheek.